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The first phase of the Somali war has probably ended with the great victory by Muslims over the Christians and their apostate followers. The coming war might be between the skilled and the brothers. This war will be greater and more intense.

Article urges Somali Fighters to Avoid Infighting and Respect Advice of Scholars On 21 July, a forum participant posted to a jihadist forum an article entitled “The advice of the honest Scholars to the Somali Mujahidin to complete the preparations for victory and empowerment. Let them beware”. The article states that the war in Somalia ended in a” great victory” by Muslims over the “Christians and their apostate followers”, referring to the Ethiopian military in Somalia. Using previous statements and words by leading jihadist figures, the author warns the mujahidin against the infighting and internal divisions that might occur among them. He strongly “urges” the mujahidin to follow the advice of “honest scholars” and to treat each other with “kindness” and respect. The article also urges them to try and win over the Somali people.

A translation of the article follows:

“God`s prayers and peace on you.

“We are here reminding them all, the leaders and their soldiers and people, about the commandments of the honest scholars, with what God granted them of advice. God made it obligatory for the mujahidin to listen to them and seek their advice.

“We are advising them after we heard the first signs of a disagreement over some important issues, not over fundamentals, and the recent issue of the two French hostages. We pray to God, the Merciful, the Compassionate, that this is not true.

“Almighty God said: ` Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you. If ye differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger`, (Partial Koranic verse, Al-Nisa, 4:59).

“Imam Al-Shafi`i and Al-Nawawi said: `Those charged with authority are the scholars and the emirs.`

“The scholars are knowledgeable about the propagation (of virtue) and prevention (of vice) and the emirs are the ones who implement.

“Abu-Musa, may God be pleased with him, narrated that the messenger of God, peace and prayers be upon him, said: `A believer to another believer is like a building whose different parts support each other. The Prophet then clasped his hands with the fingers interlaced (while saying that)`. Agreed upon.

“He compared the believers to a building in its structure, strength and interconnectedness. He stressed on this description when he clasped his hands with his fingers interlaced.

“A poet said: `If we are united the spears will not break us, but if we are divided, we will break` (poetic verse).

“Thanks be to God for the unity of the Somali jihadist factions, in their cooperation and fighting in the capital Mogadishu, in all its factions and youth. We saw their leaders sitting at the same table to assess the situation. They doubtless did well with this step.

“The most important matter for the coming phase is to beware of the disputes that might occur among them, and they should beware of the hypocrites who aim to divide their ranks, and raise demands to delay the process; similar to what happened in different places where they attracted enemies to come and opened fronts.

“It is essential that they follow what the scholars requested that they be discrete and conceal their goals in order to attain victory:

“The advice of the knowledgeable shaykh Hamid al-Ali`s that was given to them at the beginning of their victories and before the arrival of the government of (Somali President Shaykh) Sharif to the capital from Djibouti. The shaykh was the first to write about the Somali issue. He even appeared on Al-Jazeera TV a year ago in a special interview to expose the Ethiopian-Crusader project in Somalia. Here are excerpts from his article:

“`The advice is for the Somali people to remain gathered around the faithful ones who expelled the Ethiopian occupation and for the mujahidin to win the people over to their side. In addition to keeping the weapon aimed at whoever tries to meddle with the victories of the Somali jihad, they must politically abort the US project by enlightening the Somali people about its aim. They must assure them they are merely the Islamic courts that ruled them with reason, wisdom, and righteousness until they were able to solve all the problems in Somalia within a short period of time.`

“I advise them (the mujahidin) to rely on Almighty God, be steadfast on their principles like mountains, be patient with the jihad for the sake of God and be wary of internal disputes and the traitors who seek to cause division in the ranks.

“They should remember that they are carrying the nation`s future, like the people of Palestine, Afghanistan, the mujahidin in Iraq and everywhere. Let them fear God in the Muslim nation, ask for the guidance of the people of wisdom, and beware of rushing and being hasty in trying to reach the next stage. They should be cautions of political games and tackle them with care, step by step.

“Power is used when it is needed and wise political action also has its place.

“The wisdom of the scholars is with the persistence of the pious. He who relies on God almighty will be satisfied. God will save every person who seeks his guidance from any kind of difficulty and will grant him a happy ending.

“There is no doubt that the ongoing US deception, which is disguised under false terms such as `moderate Islam`, `establishing the new Somalia` and `international cooperation`, etc, is nothing more than words of decorations that hide behind it plans to achieve the US political goals in the Horn of Africa.

“It is the same trap that was used, and is still being used, against the Iraqi resistance, the Taliban and all liberation movements, Islamic movements and others, when military action fails.

“This ploy is not new. These same tricks were used against the mujahidin by the Europeans during their colonization of our countries, during the past century and the one before it. Among those who were offered this trickery was the mujahid leader Umar Al-Mukhtar himself. He mocked their offer and said: `All we went from you is to withdraw from our country and leave it to us. We do not want your democracy or your sympathy`.

“It must raise its voice with these no`s, as they were raised by the honorable resistance. It must scream that the mujahidin who fought the Ethiopian occupation are the heroes of Somalia. They deserve a reward. They are the most deserving people for Somalia.

“However, time has shown us that those who are embraced by the United States always end up losing. The only gain from following behind the US scheme is the disgrace of time and the insults of history. As for the Hereafter, that is the judgment of God, the Compeller, and the One who knows everything. He has prepared punishment for the collaborating agents and a miserable fate for the traitors.

“This is our opinion, but God knows best and He suffices us for everything. On him let the believers rely.

“Here is the very important advice by Shaykh Bin-Mahmud; the wisdom of the scholars with no screaming, excommunication or apostasy, (or the chants of) killing, killing, destruction, destruction. Guiding them, with the least amount of losses, is better to them.

“He (shaykh Bin-Mahmud) says: `The first phase of the Somali war has probably ended with the great victory by Muslims over the Christians and their apostate followers. The coming war might be between the skilled and the brothers. This war will be greater and more intense. The mujahidin in Somalia will face difficult decisions in the upcoming stage; hence, they should be more careful in their decisions. The banners will be confused and not as clear as they were with the Abyssinians (Ethiopians)`.

“Our advice to the brothers is known to them; however, we urge them to stay stationed and keep their weapons ready, realize the enemy`s treachery and deceit, be wise and patient while dealing with Muslims, abort as many opportunities as possible for the enemy and to march forward to liberate the country from every corrupt infidel infiltrator.

“We advise them to study recent history and learn from it. What happened in Afghanistan is similar to what happened in Iraq and Palestine before it; the enemy is the same and the target was the same. The believer should not commit the same mistake twice.

“Somalia has become another Gaza. (In Gaza,) the Jews were defeated in the military battle and what remains is the political battle that includes the enemy and their followers around Gaza; people who are believed to be friends and brothers. The situation today is more dangerous than the military process. Those people want sedition and only the wise scholars can face this sedition.

“We call on the scholars to carry out their religious duty toward their brothers in Somalia, by enlightening people and warning them about the enemy`s plans, trickery and deception. We call on the brothers in Somalia to be extremely careful and not be carried away by this sedition. We also call on those with good deeds in their past to maintain their self-respect, to fear God when dealing with Muslims and to not be a tool of the treachery of the infidels, knowingly or unknowingly.

“The news from Somalia indicates that several resistance factions entered the capital Mogadishu and started to impose their control over the city, and deploy themselves in the main bases from which the Ethiopian troops withdrew.

“The people are extremely happy about the entry of the resistance and withdrawal of occupation forces from the city. The interim government however is not easily surrendering to reality, especially with the presence of the African forces in the country and their protection of the presidential palace, and the presence of US warships close to the Somali coast that are authorized by the United Nations to invade Somalia under the pretext of combating the pirates.

“Some of the armed tribal men have started to move to achieve some personal gains. They were able to seize some governmental buildings in the capital. This issue necessitates that the resistance factions be more careful, and learn from previous similar mistakes committed by some resistance factions in other places, as well as be patient with one another, be strict with the saboteurs and make use of the people`s gathering around them in the hope that they will restore security before anything else.

“Oh God, unite them and their ranks and spread love between them. In unity and agreement there is power, blessings, and victory; in division and disagreement there is failure, loss, punishment, etc...

“So know this very well, the religious political battle is in dealing with the tribal chiefs, who are today`s opponents but were yesterday`s friends, as the spoils of war and power become within the reach. Try to capture the capital with minimal losses. The current matter is more dangerous than the military operation, as some people are working to spread division, sedition, and conflict, and no one can confront these things other than the wise, honest scholars.

“And this was also at core of the golden advice by Shaykh Abu-Yahyia al-Libi in his recent audio statement.

“`While we are congratulating the heroic mujahidin in Somalia for this victory in one of the epics of the age, they should know that the battle is not over yet, and there is still a lot ahead of them. We would not be exaggerating if we say that the coming phase is the most dangerous, difficult and critical phase of jihad in this land that has always been difficult for the tyrants.`

“`Nothing is more harmful to jihad than division and conflict. `Be not like those who are divided amongst themselves and fall into disputations after receiving Clear Signs (Partial Koranic verse, Al-Imran, 3:105)`. Take the advice of our predecessors, may God be pleased with them, when they said: `division is evil` and: `the issue which you hate when you are as a group is better for you than the issue you like when you are divided`.`

“You should know that uniting your ranks, words, and groups is more effective against the enemies of God almighty than dozens of operations against them. For this reason, the enemies of God`s religion have spared no efforts in the past and present to spread rumors and seditions in order to divide the groups, split the ranks, cause disagreement and spread hatred between the hearts. God almighty says: `If they had come out with you, they would not have added to your (strength) but only (made for) disorder, hurrying to and fro in your midst and sowing sedition among you, and there would have been some among you who would have listened to them. But Allah knoweth well those who do wrong (Partial Koranic verse, Al-Tawbah, 9:47)`.

“My beloved brothers, be keen on being sympathetic, merciful and humble towards each other. Be truly harsh on the infidels, and merciful among you.`

“He advises our mujahidin brethren in Somalia: `Beware of being lured into side battles that will exhaust you, weaken your power, disperse your efforts, and distract you from what is greater and more important and allow your enemies to rampage and plot in safety`.

“Aim your arrows at their chests, direct your battles against them, enforce your campaign against them, and disperse them. You should deal with people according to their status; know their statures, be kind to those among them who are kind and respect their dignity. Raise the stature of their notables, the chiefs of the tribes of glory and courage and be close to the good people, especially the knowledgeable scholars.`

“`Be kind to the weak among the widows, orphans, and grieved people. Be generous to the poor and weakened people and comfort the injured and stricken. It is through them that victory comes and the doors to blessings are opened. The prophet, God`s prayers and peace on him, said: `We are only made victorious and blessed except through your weak.` He also said: `this nation is granted victory through the prayers and faithfulness of its weakened people`.`

“`Oh God, from the mujahidin brethren in Somalia, in all their jihadist and popular groups, and the weakened Muslims, drive away the treachery and cunning of the Crusader enemies and their accursed tyrant agents in all their forms and positions.` End.

“The Shaykh of jihad and the mujahidin Usamah Bin Ladin, while advising the mujahidin to listen to the faithful scholars, said: `One of the reasons for the failure to unite the Afghan leaders in the past was that the decision for unity was in their hands and it is difficult for many people to evaluate the interests of jihad and the nation when they are part of this equation. The commander or the emir will be confused between public and personal issues, and will consider himself and his party to be the best ones to lead the mujahidin in general in supporting religion. From this, he will become more attached to leadership and will exaggerate the mistakes of other commanders and parties and not see his and his own party`s mistakes. In such a case, he will be both the accused and the judge at the same time, and will not be able to rule against himself to resign the leadership for another emir that most Muslim might agree on, etc...` End.

“Let our mujahidin brethren know, and we are beneath advising them when they have their scholars on the front, that they are enthusiastic powerful steadfast youth, and esteemed in their wisdom, dreams, and high status with their tribes. They are indispensable to each other. Another problem is that if the mujahidin are victorious, and this is inevitable, and they are able to topple the government, and do not suffer any disputes or divisions between them, God willing, then they will definitely face an international campaign against them. Their capabilities do not allow them to face all of the greedy regional powers, so what will the case be with regards to the international superpowers that will be waiting to ambush them?

“The Prophet, God`s prayers and peace on him, and his companions relied greatly on the tricks of war and on secrecy. This is not weakness or defeat in any way, but it is one of the arts of war, combat and religious politics, which at their highest form aim for victory.

“The mujahidin keep silent about the statements that do more harm to them, internally and externally, just like they were advised to do by the scholars as we mentioned. This is until they complete their preparations, prepare themselves and are in complete control. This is a perfect policy and can not be considered as defeat, weakness, or even moral defeat.

“In conclusion, beware, beware, division and conflict. If this might occur over ruins imagine what will happen if you start fighting over money, leadership, and power and all the things that people secretly desire?

“Nothing is more harmful to jihad than division and conflict. `Be not like those who are divided amongst themselves and fall into disputations after receiving Clear Signs (Partial Koranic verse, Al-Imran, 3:105)`. Take the advice of our predecessors, may God be pleased with them, when they said: `division is evil`. They also said: `the issue which you hate when you are as a group is better for you than the issue you like when you are divided`.